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A Tale of 2 Managers: Cutthroat vs. Cooperative

By RICHARD STEIER
Posted 4/6/15

The contrast was striking April 1 when Governor Cuomo risked straining a muscle by so strenuously patting himself on the back for education “reforms” he said would be “one of the greatest legacies for me and this state” while Mayor de Blasio’s Labor Commissioner told a City Council hearing that the city was ahead of schedule in its plan to save $3.4 billion in health-care costs for municipal workers by 2018.

Mr. Cuomo was exulting over changes that figured to work to the detriment of Teachers and their unions, or as he chose to put it, “the bureaucracy” that had created a “seniority-based education system.” There remain real questions as to how much he actually gained, since the most-significant elements of the changes he was seeking have been left for the state Education Department under the Board of Regents to decide, but his narrative etched in clear terms who should be viewed as the victor and the vanquished.

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